The Metropolitan Regatta, alongside Wallingford Regatta and Marlow Regatta, is one of the most important pre-Henley, Dorney-based regattas of the rowing calendar. It always provides some fierce racing across all levels, and can be an important indicator of form heading into the summer. Crews will look to use ‘the Met’ to gauge their relative speeds and get a better idea of how they’ll need to progress as they look towards Henley, whether the aim is to qualify for an event, or to win a trophy outright.
For the clubs racing in the Open Championship Eights category at Met, one can safely assume that they’ll all have aspirations for success later in the summer. The flagship event of the regatta, frequented by some stellar crews over the years, this category always promises some intense racing at the upper end of junior and club rowing in the UK.
The Met is run over two days, though there is no continuity day-to-day. The Championship Eights category on Saturday is a separate event to the same category on Sunday. This preview will focus on crews from either day, but will conclude with predictions for the Saturday and the Sunday.
Leander Club ‘A’ – Saturday
Leander’s entry on the Saturday looks to be their top eight that will likely have their sights set on a win in the Ladies Plate at Henley this year. They’re a strong unit that seem to only be picking up speed. After some disappointing results in the early season, losing out to some young Oxford Brookes crews at winter head races, Leander seem to have really found their stride, racing a very strong Brookes unit on the Sunday at Ghent – an eight made up of the top Brookes students, bolstered by the likes of Sam Nunn and David Ambler, two athletes currently training at Caversham – and narrowly winning.
Leander certainly have the talent this year to take the win at the Met. Several athletes on board have represented GB at U23 level, and guys like James Vogel, Ryan Todhunter, James Robson and Felix Drinkall – just to name a few – will undoubtedly have aspirations for the senior national team. Dominating the national circuit will be an important step for them, and I expect Leander to go out and stamp their authority on the race this Saturday.
Oxford Brookes University BC – Saturday
It’s not a given that this is the top Brookes boat, as the majority of the squad is in Germany competing at Ratzeburg Regatta against the top clubs and the German national team. This crew will presumably, then, be made up of athletes who didn’t make the trip for whatever reason. This is no reason to count them out, however, as we have seen over the years the depth at Brookes is incredible, and even their third or fourth boat is capable of beating the first boats of most clubs.
As the draw is based on points, we see the crew is sandwiched between Leander ‘A’ and ‘B’ for the time trial, an interesting position to be in as it’s entirely possible these athletes will be competing against each other come Henley.
University of London BC – Saturday & Sunday
UL will see this race as an opportunity to get a little bit closer to the Brookes crew that had their number at BUCS regatta a few weeks ago. As UL are prioritising the Temple this year, having won the PA last year, they’ll need to feel like they have momentum against Brookes in these pre-Henley regattas. It’s unlikely that they’ll have the speed at this stage in the season to beat Brookes, but if they can close the 10 second gap from BUCS Regatta, then they’ll be able to come away from Met with a great deal of confidence. UL are a strong unit with some great athletes, including a couple from last year’s Henley win. Isaac Workman in particular is having a great season, having established himself as a top U23 at Final Trials recently with Molesey partner Theo Darlow. If they struggle to claim the top spot on Saturday, I think Sunday might be a different story. I’d be surprised to see any crew on the Sunday beat UL to the top spot.
Durham University BC ‘A’ – Saturday & Sunday
Durham has been having a good season thus far, seeing some of their best results in the eight in recent years. They have consistently been placing at the top end of university eights, and won the Boat Race of the North against Newcastle recently for the first time since 2010. Coming out ahead of Newcastle, a programme that’s always highly competitive and well-drilled, is a great sign that Durham has really turned a corner in the big boat and is looking to crack into the top five student eights in the country (Durham were fifth ahead of Newcastle at BUCS Regatta). It will be a tall order for Durham to come close to boats like Brookes, but if they can try and hang with UL they might be catapulted up towards Leander and Brookes in the process. It will be a big test for Durham, but an important one as they look towards Henley.
Cambridge University BC – Saturday
The University of Cambridge lightweights have had a great season, overturning a losing streak in the Lightweight Men’s Boat Race and convincingly beating a strong Oxford crew, before winning the llightweight pennant at HORR, beating some talented openweight crews in the process. This is not their full Boat Race unit, but they’re bolstered by some spares from the openweight squad at Cambridge, so they’re likely to still be a fast crew. It will be interesting to see how they perform in a field of this calibre. Earlier in the year, they fairly convincingly beat Eton College in some scrimmages, and given Eton (with their recent NSR win) have established themselves at the top of junior rowing, that looks relatively good for the CUBC lightweights. I doubt they’ll have the speed to mix with the other university openweight programmes, but they’ll be looking for a middle-of-the-pack finish.
University College Dublin BC, IRE ‘A’ – Sunday
UCD come in as the current Irish university champions and will be looking for a strong result as they look towards Henley. There’s not a huge amount to go on in terms of speed relative to the competition here apart from UCD’s result at HORR, where they came in 34th – a decent result, but a little behind some of the other crews entered here, including Vesta ‘A’. I think they’ll struggle to match speed with the likes of UL and Durham, but they might be able to overturn Vesta with a strong performance.
Eton College BC – Saturday
Eton are riding off the high of winning NSR just last weekend, proving doubters wrong and establishing themselves once again at the top of British junior rowing. Eton’s eight this year is a great marriage of power and technique, and would hold its own against any one of the Eton eights that have won the PE in recent years (three since 2016). They’ll now have their sights set on Henley, and for an NSR-winning crew this period is crucial.
On the one hand, Eton have established themselves as the current front runners, and can take a lot of confidence from their performance. On the other, they didn’t blow the field away – two crews were within three seconds of Eton – and those who lost out at NSR will be more determined than ever to peak for Henley. Eton will want to ensure that they keep building momentum and use regattas like Met and Marlow to re-establish their dominant position.
The fact that KCS are entered here is a great opportunity. KCS won bronze at NSR, fairly close behind Eton. If the gap can be widened, Eton will put themselves into a great position looking forward to the rest of the summer.
King’s College School, Wimbledon BC – Saturday
KCS have been steadily improving year on year, and their results now are some of the best that KCS have seen in recent memory. A bronze at NSR is fantastic for the programme, and it sets them up well for Henley. They’re not far off the pace that Eton have set, and they’ll see the result from last weekend as fuel for the fire. Getting closer to Eton will be a real test, but if they can do it – or perhaps even sneak ahead of the home favourites – they’ll shake up the top end of the junior sweep scene.
Vesta RC – Saturday & Sunday
Vesta are a solid club that have produced some decent results this year, including a strong 20th place performance at HORR. It looks like they might be prioritising a Thames Cup crew this year, and it would be good to see Vesta competitive. They fielded two very competitive coxed fours at Wallingford Regatta recently, one of which won the event outright. They’ve clearly got depth this year, and in club rowing depth is paramount. It’ll be interesting to see how well they can mix with some very fast eights on the Saturday, and then perhaps strive for the top spot on Sunday.
Prediction
Saturday: The Saturday will be an incredibly exciting race between some very talented crews. For the top three, I’m going to go with Leander, Brookes just behind, followed by UL.
Sunday: A leaner contest that I’m sure will still produce some fierce racing. I’m going to suggest UL for the top spot, followed by Durham, with Vesta in third.
Good luck to all crews.
Five Man
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